Leisure reporter
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who rose to fame as a toddler star within the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s, has died aged 39.
Police in Manhattan stated they responded to an emergency name on Wednesday morning and located Trachtenberg “unconscious and unresponsive”. She was pronounced lifeless on the scene.
The US actress was finest identified for enjoying Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s youthful sister Daybreak Summers, and later took on the position of manipulative socialite Georgina Sparks in Gossip Lady as an grownup.
Trachtenberg made her movie debut in Harriet the Spy in 1996, and likewise appeared in a number of Nickelodeon productions.
Co-stars paid tribute to her, describing her as a “fiercely clever” one who “cared deeply” about her work.
Her household’s representatives confirmed her dying in an announcement.
“It’s with nice disappointment to substantiate that Michelle Trachtenberg has handed away. The household requests privateness for his or her loss,” it stated.
Authorities stated her dying was not being handled as suspicious.
“Criminality shouldn’t be suspected. The medical expert will decide the reason for dying. The investigation stays ongoing,” the NYPD stated in an announcement.
Getty PhotosTrachtenberg obtained her begin in performing at age 9 on the Nickelodeon tv collection The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
Within the early 2000s, she was nominated for a number of performing awards – together with a Daytime Emmy Award – for her position in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
She additionally starred in movies together with EuroTrip, Ice Princess, Killing Kennedy, and Sister Cities.
Blake Vigorous, a Gossip Lady co-star, stated all the pieces Trachtenberg did “she did 200%”.
“She laughed the fullest at somebody’s joke… she cared deeply about her work, she was fiercely loyal to her pals and courageous for these she cherished, she was large and daring and distinctly herself,” she wrote on social media.
“The actual tragedies in life are those that blindside you on an idle Tuesday. Maintain these you’re keen on and have cherished expensive.”
US comic Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in her Harriet the Spy debut, stated her dying was “heartbreaking”.
“I cherished her very a lot. She struggled the previous few years. I want I might have helped.”
Josh Safran, a author and producer on Gossip Lady, stated it was “an honour and pleasure to put in writing for Michelle for therefore a few years”, as she had a “clear voice” as an actor.
“You heard her as you typed,” he wrote. “You knew she’d make every line rougher, extra actual, a lot funnier – and that made the writing higher.
Getty PhotosFormer castmates additionally paid tribute.
Buffy solid member James Marsters stated on social media that the actress was “fiercely clever, howlingly humorous, and a really proficient particular person”.
“She died a lot too younger, and leaves behind scores of people that knew and cherished her,” Marsters stated.
How I Met Your Mom actress Alyson Hannigan, who performed Willow Rosenberg in Buffy, shared a collection of pictures on social media, together with photos of the 2 sharing scenes, and stated Trachtenberg “introduced a loving vitality to the set of Buffy”.
Trachtenberg first appeared in Gossip Lady – which ran from 2007 to 2012 – in 2008. She returned to the position for 2 episodes of the second season of HBO Max’s reboot in 2023.
Her final main performing position was in 2021 because the host of a true-crime docuseries Meet, Marry, Homicide, which appeared on digital streamer Tubi.
In 2021, Trachtenberg accused Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon of inappropriate behaviour on set, after her co-star Charisma Carpenter stated she had been left traumatised as a result of remedy she obtained from Whedon.
